the island of Tasmania. Unfortunately, the British Navy did not start keeping records of all its sailors until after 1851.”
Keiko sat back down on the bed and handed him his bottle. He twisted the top off and took a drink. “That’s better.” Julian continued, “So official naval records aren’t much use.”
Keiko shook her head in agreement, “Yeah, but at least it gives us a starting point date wise for the ship. Its launch confirms the correct timeline.”
Julian nodded. “So how much of the story can we forensically verify through this map? Were you able to confirm that the map was made after 1812?”
“Yes. See these markings for the lunar calendar?” Keiko pointed to an area of the map with some numbers and letters. “These are longitudinal coordinates that are not quite correct , but exactly match those of the time period from the Nautical Almanac, which kept time from 1767-1833. That is the publication Captain Graham's crew would have used. During this brief time period, Greenwich standard time, noon was used as the starting hour, not midnight , same as on the map!”
“Great. So we can narrow down the map’s creation to before 1833, which again ties in with the correct period of time.”
“Exactly. Now if we can account for storms that may have affected the coastline between 1817 and 1833...” Keiko trailed off.
Julian interjected, "If someone after 1833 used the incorrect longitudinal numbers based on the old almanac, or if they used the correct ones from the modern …”
“They would have been digging in the wrong place!” Keiko said triumphantly.
Julian continued, “We can narrow down the island and refine our search matching the map to more correctly correlate with what the coast would have looked like in that time period with the old numbers and come closer to what should be the correct spot.”
“Yes! This is why if someone had the map or the numbers, they still would not have stumbled across the right location.” Keiko smiled.
Keiko handed Julian the next group of papers. “Here’s a listing of some of the big storms that hit the coast between 1901 and now. I contacted the National Weather Service, and they sent me a topographical map of how those storms changed the coasts. I asked them to extrapolate it back another eighty years, and this is what they came up with. I traced the outline onto a piece of Mylar so I could overlay it on the existing islands, and this is what it looks like.”
Julian and Keiko both examined the changed outlines of the islands. “What do you think?”
Julian took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. “I think you’re a very smart woman.”
“The coasts have changed quite a bit haven’t they?”
Julian looked at the islands, the contrast of what their past shores looked like to what was now before them. None of them matched up, and none were even close to the map drawn by Captain Graham.
“I think we’re looking for a needle in a haystack.”
“You can certainly see why Mary couldn’t lead the search party back to the exact location. How confusing and frustrating it must have been for her. This area still has some active earthquakes. They may have changed the topography even more.”
“Let’s think about this rationally,” Julian said, “since the coastline has moved, let's look at topography for a moment. Maybe we should hire a copter for fly-bys over all three, and compare it to the map from the top down. They are all old volcanic peaks, but see how on the map this seems to bend? Maybe a change of view will have something else pop out at us.”
“I think that might be a good idea.”
“Okay, let me make a few calls and see what we can set up.”
***
Julian whistled, “This is not cheap.”
“Don't worry, when we find the treasure, I'm sure the Smithsonian will pay you back.”
“Funny.” Julian picked up his phone and spoke. Twenty minutes later he said, “Booked us to fly out at one this afternoon.
Keiko sat back down on the bed and handed him his bottle. He twisted the top off and took a drink. “That’s better.” Julian continued, “So official naval records aren’t much use.”
Keiko shook her head in agreement, “Yeah, but at least it gives us a starting point date wise for the ship. Its launch confirms the correct timeline.”
Julian nodded. “So how much of the story can we forensically verify through this map? Were you able to confirm that the map was made after 1812?”
“Yes. See these markings for the lunar calendar?” Keiko pointed to an area of the map with some numbers and letters. “These are longitudinal coordinates that are not quite correct , but exactly match those of the time period from the Nautical Almanac, which kept time from 1767-1833. That is the publication Captain Graham's crew would have used. During this brief time period, Greenwich standard time, noon was used as the starting hour, not midnight , same as on the map!”
“Great. So we can narrow down the map’s creation to before 1833, which again ties in with the correct period of time.”
“Exactly. Now if we can account for storms that may have affected the coastline between 1817 and 1833...” Keiko trailed off.
Julian interjected, "If someone after 1833 used the incorrect longitudinal numbers based on the old almanac, or if they used the correct ones from the modern …”
“They would have been digging in the wrong place!” Keiko said triumphantly.
Julian continued, “We can narrow down the island and refine our search matching the map to more correctly correlate with what the coast would have looked like in that time period with the old numbers and come closer to what should be the correct spot.”
“Yes! This is why if someone had the map or the numbers, they still would not have stumbled across the right location.” Keiko smiled.
Keiko handed Julian the next group of papers. “Here’s a listing of some of the big storms that hit the coast between 1901 and now. I contacted the National Weather Service, and they sent me a topographical map of how those storms changed the coasts. I asked them to extrapolate it back another eighty years, and this is what they came up with. I traced the outline onto a piece of Mylar so I could overlay it on the existing islands, and this is what it looks like.”
Julian and Keiko both examined the changed outlines of the islands. “What do you think?”
Julian took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. “I think you’re a very smart woman.”
“The coasts have changed quite a bit haven’t they?”
Julian looked at the islands, the contrast of what their past shores looked like to what was now before them. None of them matched up, and none were even close to the map drawn by Captain Graham.
“I think we’re looking for a needle in a haystack.”
“You can certainly see why Mary couldn’t lead the search party back to the exact location. How confusing and frustrating it must have been for her. This area still has some active earthquakes. They may have changed the topography even more.”
“Let’s think about this rationally,” Julian said, “since the coastline has moved, let's look at topography for a moment. Maybe we should hire a copter for fly-bys over all three, and compare it to the map from the top down. They are all old volcanic peaks, but see how on the map this seems to bend? Maybe a change of view will have something else pop out at us.”
“I think that might be a good idea.”
“Okay, let me make a few calls and see what we can set up.”
***
Julian whistled, “This is not cheap.”
“Don't worry, when we find the treasure, I'm sure the Smithsonian will pay you back.”
“Funny.” Julian picked up his phone and spoke. Twenty minutes later he said, “Booked us to fly out at one this afternoon.
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